J Refillable Rollerball Pen

So first off, I bought this pen and the Monteverde short converter (yes it works!) at the same time so I can use my favorite fountain pen inks. I filled it with Noodler's X-Feather and WOW!! It writes smooth as wet ice! You have to remember it's fountain pen ink so it will write wet. That's kind of the whole point. Use halfway decent paper and you won't have any trouble at all. That being said, I was using it at work last night on cheap copy paper and it seemed to do decently well. The pen is short, but if you post the cap it fits perfectly in my large hand. After a full night of writing, I noticed at one point that the feed had run dry and the pen acted like it had run out of ink, so I pushed more ink in from the converter and it went back to working perfectly for the rest of the night so the trick is to keep the feed system full (should be obvious, but you can't count on common sense these days). The pen doesn't actually use much ink at all compared to my fountain pens. It functioned perfectly and never skipped or was hard to start once the ink was flowing the first time. I am frankly amazed at how smoothly it glides across the page as fast as I like without ever skipping. It's not a fountain pen so obviously there is no line variation to be had. I haven't tried it with any of my inks that offer shading, but as smoothly as it lays down ink, I'm dubious about any real shading prospects. I'll try and update this if I remember once I try it with my shady inks. I'm hesitant to use shimmering inks because I don't think it will clean very nicely. I may give it a try once I buy a few more of these (which I plan to do soon!). So there you have it: A beautifully executed rollerball pen that uses fountain pen ink. It is especially useful in situations and on paper qualities where fountain pens are at a disadvantage, it doesn't stand out like a fountain pen does (I suppose if I had fancier ink in it it may since its a demonstrator) and it writes ridiculously smoothly without any skipping or hard starting. In short, it does what it's supposed to do and it does it well. If you are new to fountain pens, you may struggle slightly with inking it and cleaning it, but these are not hard to learn with a little patience and the reward is the ability to use the whole world of ink options that are only available to fountain pen users without most of the disadvantages of the fountain pen (obviously, you still have to ink it and clean it as that's the whole point of the pen). The pen is plastic but doesn't feel any cheaper than any other demonstrator pen. I wouldn't put it places where it's likely to suffer a lot of abuse (like in a pants pocket full of keys and such) as it's not likely to hold up well to that. Think of it as a more expensive pen that you want to take care of and it won't let you down and will likely last so long you'll save money on it in the end since you're not replacing your disposable pens all the time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!

Writes like a rollerball, but its ultra smooth and takes very little pressure to put ink on paper. Interesting little pen. Overall (What I think of the product): For someone who already uses a fountain pen, ask first. This pen is a downgrade from a fountain pen. For someone who's never used a fountain pen, or someone who write pages of text (i.e. journal or diary) using a regular pen, this would be a very nice gift/upgrade from a regular pen. If you buy this as a gift, buy one of the J. Herbin Ink Cartridges in the little metal tin. It's the ink they recommend and it comes in a few colors. This way you don't have to worry about getting the right ink converter or buying bottled ink (or the wrong kind of ink). The pen plus the ink cartridges make a complete gift. Picture: First line is a Pilot Red Frixion ball point pen; used as a reference since everyone can get one. Second line is from the J. Herbin pen, using Monteverde Ruby Red ink (a "wet" ink), and an ink converter. Third line is from a regular fountain pen, EF (extra fine) nib. Most interesting part of the picture is the color difference between the rollerball tip and the EF nib fountain pen. Exact same ink, but the rollerball is less intense. If I go over the same line a second time, the rollerball will match the red from the fountain pen. That means the rollerball is putting down *less* ink than my EF nib pen; ink doesn't feel or look thin on paper. Expected (stuff I knew/planned on before buying): No replacement rollerball tip available. Take care of the rollerball tip you get. Shorter and skinnier than most fountain pens, so easy to carry everywhere. Its $10 for the pen; this pen is all about function, and not even a little bit about fashion and it shows (there is a nicer metal version). Its $10 for the pen, the least expensive on Amazon for this type of pen. Short barrel means you can only use the Monteverde mini ink converter for bottled ink. Regular converters are too long. They recommend their own ink cartridges. No stars taken off for not working with standard cartridges --> **Standard international cartridges seemed to fit** I used the Jinhao blue cartridges which work fine with other pen brands. When I kept the pen pointing down for a few days, I saw blue ink leaking inside the barrel (one of the benefits of clear pens). Apparently the cartridge doesn't fit anymore; its used to be friction fit for the sides of the cartridges near the opening and now it's not. Not even sure how that happens. Added a thin layer of rubber cement to the cartridge, now it fits fine. It may due to size tolerance between the brand of cartridge and the pen. I'll try again with a different brand ink cartridge and will update the review (may be a while, this isn't a high priority). Writes like a rollerball; no variation is line width. This is expected because... it's a rollerball. Writes smooth like a rollerball. This is expected because... it's a rollerball. No fancy inks that shimmer and glitter since they *will* clog up inside the rollerball tip. And there is no was to clean a blockage out from behind the rollerball tip. Limiting myself to Monteverde inks (they lubricate), Noodler Eel line of inks (they also lubricate), and Pelikan 4001 to prevent issue with dried ink. Pros (good stuff I found out after I got the pen): Writes with very little pressure like a fountain pen--really wasn't expecting that. Even rollerballs require some downward pressure; on this pen the tip just needs to touch the paper like a fountain pen which is just odd because I keep pressing down by habit. You can write with hard pressure when writing to make carbon copies, like a typical rollerball. Writing pressure doesn't make any difference in amount of ink on paper. Lingering the pen tip in one spot will cause bleeding, same as a fountain pen. *should* work with International standard cartridges (2.6mm bore size, I use a JINHAO cartridge), although they recommend the J. Herbin cartridges. Had an issue, not sure if its the pen or the cartridge; will update review later. Only maintenance is flushing the feed and changing inks, so easy to care for. Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Not so stingy that it skips, but compared to a fountain pen EF nib, the rollerball tip saves ink and will last a *long* time. Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Allows you to write on almost any paper with minimal or no bleeding (depending on if you use "wet" or "dry" inks) Cons (negative stuff I found out after receiving the pen): Metal spacer ring between barrel body and rollerball tip is easy to lose, Watch for it when inking up the pen. Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Colors may not be as intense. See picture. For some people, this isn't a negative thing. No way to clean ink out of the feed/rollerball. You don't want to force water into the feed since the pressure may pop out the ball tip. Switching from the Ruby Red to a blue cartridge, it took a page of dense scribbling to clear out the red from the feed and rollerball. This is *after* I washed the rollerball tip under tepid running water until it was clear.

I received the J. Herbin refillable rollerball pen today. It was a bit smaller than I expected. When capped, it's 4.5" long. Somehow, I expected it to be the same size as it's fountain pen sibling, but that's okay. When you post the cap, it's a standard size. I can use it posted or unposted but it is a bit short, even for smaller hands when used with the cap unposted. I put a Monteverde short international cartridge with purple ink in the pen. The ink flow is good through the ink feed and the pen started writing within a minute or two. It writes very smoothly without skips or ink blurps. Since it does use fountain pen ink, depending on the paper you use, you may get some bleedthrough or ghosting. I haven't seen any feathering yet with testing the pen on different papers. Some of that may be due to the ink. I like that I can use a variety of different inks. The pen uses a standard short international cartridge. If I want to use an ink that I don't have in cartridge form, I can use an empty international short cartridge and fill it with my ink of choice. I would NOT recommend using any shimmer ink with this pen because the glitter in the ink can clog up the roller ball itself. Just about any other ink should work. I know that the converter that comes with the J. Herbin fountain pen is too long to fit in the rollerball pen. The Monteverde mini converter fits perfectly. That gives you an option of a converter if that is your preference. Like other rollerball pens, this does not require much pressure to write with. That is good, especially during long writing sessions. For those who may ask, it cannot be used as an eye dropper pen unless the holes are filled with epoxy. I have been having a lot of fun writing with this pen today. I'm going to use it and put it through its paces. If you are looking for a rollerball pen that is refillable with fountain pen ink (especially for those times when a fountain pen is not the best choice), this little pen may be just what you are looking for. I just ordered four more of these pens so I can have them filled with different ink colors.

I have the $35 metal version of this pen, with a fine point. I like it a lot, but wanted a medium point as well. The only option was the cheaper plastic version so I ordered it. I put a J. Herbin ink cartridge in it and it’s the worst writer ever - it’s so bad that the lines are kind of dotted because it skips so much. Needless to say I’ll either return it or just throw it out. I guess I’ll just stick to the metal one with the fine point, which is a nice writer, but a finer line than I like.

Despite knowing the measurements, I was still a little surprised how short this pen is! Also, note that this pen DOES NOT come with cartridges or a converter, so you will need to buy one in order to use it! (I did know this tbh, just want to warn future buyers.) It doesn't come with any instructions for setup or cleaning. Setup is pretty intuitive if you've used any pens like this before, but cleaning can be kind of tricky. After the first usage and cleaning, the pen also started to emit a sort of scratchy squeak when writing as well. It's still useable but kind of annoying. Overall, not a terrible pen, but not great either. It writes well enough that I'd keep using it, but I probably wouldn't buy a second one.

This definitely was what I was looking for, a refillable rollerball, however there are a few things you should know. It is a very short pen, it seems like the idea is that you post the cap to lengthen it. If you are someone who doesn’t like posting, this isn’t for you. This is very light weight, made of clear plastic. It will take a small converter with a narrowed end. The Montverde one i purchased was far too big, but I was lucky to find that I had some left over cartridges that fit it perfect. If you are someone like me who rarely uses cartridges with your pens and just tosses all your extra ones in a little drawer, pull those suckers out, you can probably plug them into this pen. It writes very smoothly and boldly. I have included a sample with some of my finer point pens. Not sure if it is the pen or just the ink I used but it lays down ink fairly wet, so if you use low quality paper (aka printer paper) there might be some bleeding. But i have tried this on high quality thin papers and other than some very minor ghosting, it hasn’t bled through. Overall im happy with this pen, it writes a bit bold for my taste but it’s useful for things that don’t require as much detail. It’s good value for money and a great way to use your spare cartridges or if you can find a small enough converter you could use any bottled ink with it.

I've been looking a rollerball pen that can use fountain pen ink, and this was the cheapest I found. I was pretty excited to use it once it arrived. But once I inked it with my Monteverde California Teal (favorite ink for the season), I noticed some inconsistencies in the ball that created a squeaking noise and a partially scratchy writing feel. Unfortunately, the ink came out inconsistently while writing as well. I wouldn't necessarily call it feathering, but it felt similar. I tried writing on many types of paper, but got the same results. The cap also does not post very well, so it's a struggle to write if you have larger hands like mine. Thinking this was just a lemon, I tried replacing it but came across the same issues. Looking at its positives, I love that I could have an inexpensive pen that can fit a mini cartridge converter for my various fountain pen inks. The other option I'd consider in this price range is the Ferris Wheel Press Roundabout. It's about double the price and is a full-sized pen. The convenience of a more portable pen that can hold fountain pen ink like the J. Herbin Rollerball is pretty great, but I don't know if I'd recommend it unless you're okay with a subpar (in my opinion) writing experience.

I've been looking for a refillable pen to replace use-one throw-away plastic pens for a long time, starting in the 90s. I still own a set of Rapidograoh and Rotring pens. They clog up. The nib breaks. Some of them get stuck so I can't open them to refill the pen. I've also tried piston pens and a few fountain pens of many brands. We have now purchased 3 each J. Herbin ballpoint pens for hubby and I to load with different colors of ink. The J. Herbin pens will start rolling again with the least amount of scribbling of any of the refillable pens we have purchased so far. I purchased bottled ink and a refill kit and have been refilling the cartridges. The J. Herbin pens don't leak. And have a good line just a little thicker than the .5 sized design pen. It has a good flow for writing. The small size of the pen is nice to fit in your pocket with a journal. If I could give this pen ten stars I would. A great little refillable pen for the money.

This little rollerball pen is a gem. It writes very smoothly and is easy to carry around. I can fill it with my own ink using a small cartridge which I find fun to use.

Where do I start with my review??? I wanted to buy a refillable rollerball pen, so thought this was what I was looking for. However, to my amazement, the ‘Pen’, was all I received. In my 54 years on this planet, I have never bought a pen, that is basically a shell, that you have to find a refill to fit. I am hoping that my local trustworthy W.H. Smith’s, will have a refill to fit it, otherwise it will be one of the very few items I have bought from Amazon, that will be totally useless.

Comenzó bien, pero al cabo de poco tiempo de usarlo, el trazo de escritura se ha vuelto irregular. No se si es un problema de mala calidad de la bola de la punta, o del sistema de alimentación, pero el flujo de tinta presenta cortes sobre el papel.

This pen is lovely; it's a nice quality, I love that it's clear so I can easily see the ink level, and the ink flow is perfect. My only complaint would be that it's so short. To be fair, I didn't look at the measurements before ordering as I've never encountered such a short size in something not marked as "mini." I've uploaded a picture showing a standard Bic pen and a Schneider brand refillable/ink cartridge roller ball pen. I was easily able to find ink cartridges that fit (link below to the set I'm using, such a great price) and I have refillable cartridges on hand that fit which is a relief as I like to buy ink pots when possible. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07PLYJHD8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Perfect fit for my Monteverde mini converter and Waterman ink. Great flow (people who say the ball doesn't roll properly must be using some oily/waxy paper or something). And i'm left-handed too! if a ball doesn't roll properly i'm the first one to notice. I want to try it with thicker ink as Waterman is a bit wet and writes like a fountain pen